A Florida officer, who was fired after ‘failing to coordinate an immediate response’ to the Parkland shooting in 2018 and instead cowered behind a car, will be reinstated.
Sgt Brian Miller was terminated from the Broward Sheriff’s Office in June 2019 after being suspended for several months.
During the investigation, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission found that the Broward Sheriff’s Office displayed deficiencies in everything from training and command to individual performance in its response to the massacre that saw Nikolas Cruz shoot dead 14 students and three faculty members on February 14, 2018.
‘Miller failed to coordinate or direct deputies’ actions and did not direct or coordinate an immediate response into the school,’ a report from the commission said.
‘Sergeant Miller’s actions were ineffective and he did not properly supervise the scene,’ the report added.
But on Wednesday it was revealed that despite his actions that day, he will be getting his job back. Miller will be reinstated with full back pay and seniority.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, an arbitrator ruled that Miller’s due process rights were violated when he was fired and dismissed the case against him.
Miller arrived at the school during the shooting but video shows he stayed outside the parking lot until long after the massacre ended.
He took a position behind his patrol car and never made a radio call as shots continued to ring out in the school.
Miller stood by as officers from neighboring Coral Springs and additional BSO deputies ran past him into the building.
Several other officers at the scene of the shooting that day have either been terminated or resigned. One officer has been charged with felony crimes.
Scot Peterson was charged last year with failing to protect the victims who were killed by Cruz.
Peterson, 56, was arrested on 11 charges including child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury. If convicted, he faces a potential prison sentence of nearly 100 years. Peterson was outside the building when Cruz opened fire.
He eventually took up his position, gun drawn, but did not go inside
For 45 minutes while police searched for Cruz and after unarmed adults had been killed trying to protect students inside, Peterson hid in a building 75 feet from where the massacre had happened.
Prosecutors say that during that time, seven kids were killed.
BSO Capt Jan Jordan also resigned last year. Jordan oversaw the city of Parkland on February 14, 2018.
Law enforcement officers told investigators Jordan appeared to be in a trancelike state and overwhelmed as she tried to direct the initial response to the attack.
Cruz, 21, is charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
His trial was supposed to take place earlier this year, but it has been pushed back to the summer.